Shingai Sentai Monstranger: Resurrection
by The Threat
Summary: The benevolent organization Cefabew wants to help the human race progress, and it's up to a team of monsters to put a stop to it... Yeah, it's a complete role-reversal, where the Sentai are the villains, and the opposing party are actually the good guys.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: though based on the format owned by Toei Company, and inspired by every horror story ever told, all the characters used here are mine.

* * *

A young child was running down the street. Cars were passing by, at an alarming speed, but the child did not care about that. He had set his mind on making it to this one destination, and would think of nothing else. After a for a kid large number of steps, he finally arrived at where he was going: the candy store. With a bright smile on his face, he ran toward the entrance... until a car flew past him. That was when he realized that the store was on the other side of the busy street. The alarmingly fast cars, that he paid no attention to before, suddenly became a problem. So close, and yet so far. As he was about to burst into tears, a shadow covered him. He turned around to see where it came from. Blocking the light of the sun, stood what looked like a lion, walking on its hind legs, and looking straight at the little boy, with its mouth open, and one of his paws stretched out.  
"Do you need some help?" it asked.  
"I know you!" the boy exclaimed, "You're Master King! Of Cefabew!"  
"Indeed." the lion, Master King, replied, "And you look like you need help."  
"Yeah, I wanna get some candy, but the street's too busy."  
"Say no more." Master King replied, with a heavy and yet friendly voice.  
Master King grabbed hold of the child's hand, took one step off the side-walk, and waved his hand to the first driver that passes him by. At the sight of him, the driver stopped, signaled him to cross the street, which Master King did, along with the child at his hand.

"He really is a popular Mascot, is not he?" somebody asked, as he witnessed Master King's act on a CCTV screen.  
"Every child loves a king, Dr. Van Helsen." was the reply of the CCTV operator.  
"And of course the thought that the king of the jungle himself is there to help, makes them feel all te more happy." the man, Van Helsen, replied.  
"He really is the best idea for a Mascot the company's ever had." the operator said.  
"Give te otters a little more credit, Mr. Welles." Van Helsen told him, "Tey may not be as popular, but tey are still loved."  
"Of course, sir." the operator, Welles, said.  
"If anyting out of the ordinary happens, let me know." Van Helsen told him.  
"Certainly, sir." Welles nodded, upon which Van Helsen left the room.

As Van Helsen left the CCTV room, the sudden introduction of light to his maladjusted eyes surprised him. It probably didn't help that he was wearing a white coat, which reflected the light, making it even brighter than it should be. If he were any younger, he would not have cared much, but at his 60s, every bit of light may be too much for him.  
"Is everything all right, Doctor?" a passer-by asked him. He too was wearing a white coat, but looked about a third his own age.  
"Yes, notting to worry about." Van Helsen replied, "You're Easton's assistant, are not you?"  
"Yes." was the answer.  
"Help me here, what was your name?" Van Helsen asked.  
"Bernard." he answered.  
"Ah yes, Bernart." Van Helsen replied, with his usual foreign pronunciation.  
"Which reminds me, Easton wants to see you."  
"Has he progressed his project much?" Van Helsen asked.  
"You better come see for yourself." Bernard replied.  
Van Helsen frowned. Wondering what Bernard could possibly mean by that, he followed him to see Easton.

A few floors down, Van Helsen and Bernard arrived at Easton's lab. Even with the lights switched off, some of Easton's phials, containing a yellow liquid, somehow glowed in the dark.  
"Nice work, Hermahn." Van Helsen said, "You made fluorescerent liquids."  
From behind the phials, Easton rose, his brows raised at Van Helsen's choice of words, which looked almost comical from behind his huge glasses.  
"I think he means you made your formula glow in the dark." Bernard told him.  
"That's what I thought." Easton whispered, "Bernard, could you please clean those the instruments?"  
Easton pointed at the sink, which had a pile of surgical instruments, all of which covered with various substances, which unless one is familiar with biology or chemistry, won't look familiar to the casual observer.  
"Yeah, boss." Bernard sighed as he walked toward the sink.  
"This... fluorescent liquid, as I think you were trying to call it, is my re-activator." Easton explained.  
"Re-activator?" Van Helsen didn't understand.  
"Inject it into any dead body, and it will come back to life." Easton explained.  
"How wonderful!" Van Helsen was ecstatic.  
"Not really." Easton said, "The body is alive, but their minds are gone. They won't do anything on their own, they can only do what they're told, nothing more."  
"Ah." was all Van Helsen could manage to say.  
"At best, I could deploy them as drug-hounds." Easton continued, "Sniff out who's been stealing all that blood from our banks."  
Before Van Helsen could say anything, a loud clatter resonated through the room.  
"Bernard..." Easton hissed, "Can't you be more careful!"  
Bernard looked down at the mess he just made. Somehow, as he was cleaning some scalpels, they slipped out of his hands, which landed on a couple of phials, breaking them in the progress.  
"I'm sorry." Bernard said.  
Easton didn't care: "You're almost as clumsy as Feuerstein's assistant. What was his name..."  
"Mean you Ivan?" Van Helsen asked, "Talking about Feuerstein, I wonder how far he stands with his... Ranger-machines?"  
"Why do you ask me?" Easton wondered.  
"Because he wants not tell me." Van Helsen answered, "And I tought that since you bote work in the same field, tat you maybe know more."  
Easton laughed: "Is he still afraid that his next creation will be a repeat of Eva?"  
"I do not know." Van Helsen said.  
As soon as he said those words, a red light started to flash across the room, while an alarm blared.  
"Security breach. Security Breach." a voice called through the P.A., repeatedly.  
"What is happening?" Van Helsen questioned in a panic.  
"We better check." Easton suggested, "Bernard, you stay and keep a watch over everything."  
"Of course I will." Bernard nodded.  
With that agreement, Easton ran to the door, and Van Helsen followed suite.  
Once both of them were out of the room, Bernard grinned: "Wouldn't want it any other way."


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone was running in one direction. Both Easton and Van Helsen deduced that they're running away from the danger, so naturally they ran in the opposite direction. They kept running, until they arrived at a door, which appeared to be charred, as if someone tried to torch it.  
"What has happened here?" Van Helsen wondered.  
"Isn't this Dr. Feuerstein's lab?" Easton just remembered.  
The two looked at each other, wide-eyed, and both started calling Feuerstein's first name: "William!"  
A groan can be heard from beyond that door. Both men burst in, only to find a lot of rubble.  
"Can you hear us?" Easton cried.  
Another groan, coming from the rubble at the far left corner. Both men ran to that corner, moved away as much of the rubble as possible, and found their good doctor. Battered and bruised, but still breathing.  
"Everything good?" Van Helsen asked him.  
Feuerstein coughed out some dust as an answer.  
"Can you tell us what happened?" Easton asked.  
"I don't know." Feuerstein answered, with some difficulty, "I had just finished my latest project... and that's when everything blew up."  
"The Ranger-machines exploded?" Van Helsen asked.  
"No." Feuerstein replied, "I had them in my hands when it happened. Something exploded behi... Where's Ivan?"  
Both Easton and Van Helsen were surprised by this sudden question.  
"We have to take care of you first." Easton said.  
"He was here when it happened!" Feuerstein told them, "He should be here!"  
"You look to him." Van Helsen commanded Easton, who obeyed, then he turned back to Feuerstein, "Where are the machines?"  
Feuerstein looked at his hands, where he had them last, as he said only seconds ago: "They must be somewhere under that rubble over there.  
"Ivan!" Easton called out, but no reply came. He called out again, and again, but nothing came.

While all this was going on, Bernard had opened up a few drawers of his desk, from which he took what at first glance looked like plastic dough. This, he placed at many strategic points at the lab, just when he heard a loud clang. Bernard turned to look. A grill from the air-shaft fell off, and through the opening that created, a short man climbed out. Most people who see this man for the first time would scream in fear, what with his hunched back, his popped right eye, his ragged clothes, and what appeared to be a mushroom growing out of his nose. But Bernard didn't react that way at all.  
"Perfect timing, Ivan." Bernard said.  
"I got Feuerstein's machines." the hunchback, Ivan said, upon which he showed what he took from Feuerstein. He held five little machines, each of which had a rotation button on it, making it look more like a thermostat-switch. Each also bore their own color: green, blue, yellow, white, and red.  
"And you're sure they can't replicate it?" Bernard asked, "Or even deactivate it at a distance?"  
"I destroyed all Feuerstein's notes." Ivan replied, "Plus back-ups. It is as if he never made them."  
"Good!" Bernard said, "Our friends will be pleased to hear that."  
"But now how do we get out?" Ivan asked, "This explosion has put them on high alert."  
"One explosion would do that." Bernard said, "But a second one implies they're under attack, and that they'll have to evacuate. They'll have neither the time or the chance to look for us."  
"Great idea!" Ivan said.  
"Now, go back into the air-shaft." Bernard told him.  
Ivan did exactly as he was told. With Bernard's help, he could climb back into the shafts. Once he was in, he crawled through as fast as he could, leaving room for Bernard to crawl in. But as he crawled, he heard voices.  
"What are you doing?" it sounded heavy and muffled, as though the person saying it was a big man, wearing a helmet.  
"I eh..." Bernard had to do some quick thinking, "I'm trying to keep the fire from spreading."  
"What fire?" another voice asked.  
"Well, there was an explosion, right?" Bernard replied.  
"Oh yeah, of course." that voice said.  
"Wait a minute!" the first one sounded again, "How do you know it was an explosion. We only just received the news ourselves!"  
"He could've heard it." the other one said.  
"And we didn't?" the first voice said, "Quite a coinkidink if you ask me."  
Soon after, there came a few knocks on the shaft, signaling Ivan to move on. Not knowing what else to do, or how to help his friend, he did exactly that. He could only just hear someone ask what was crawling through there, just when he heard an explosion.

Outside, exactly like Bernard predicted, all scientists and members of staff were vacating the building. The guards, as well as some of the Mascots, were helping to get everyone organized. So distracted were they, nobody had any chance of seeing one short man crawling out of the shafts. Ivan had made it out, though judging from the fact that his clothes were smoking, he just barely escaped the explosion. He rolled in the grass at first, trying to put out the fires. Once that was done, he took one look at the building. He couldn't believe what Bernard just did, just to save his life, and what he had done by extension. Ivan shook his head, realizing he should banish the thought, or else Bernard would have died for nothing. He ran away from the building as fast as he could.

Since he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself, Ivan had to take the smaller back-alleys, where almost nobody would spot him. With all the buildings, all the concrete roads, and the sounds of electronic equipment, he feared he might never leave the city. What a relieve he felt when his feet touched the soft moss of the forest, and the fresh oxygen of the trees allowed him to breath again. With his new-found breath, he could finally run again, until he reached his final destination. On the outside, it looked like an old mansion. Pieces of brick were already missing, several irons bars had rusted, and the roof looked like it could collapse any second. All the windows were either broken or boarded up, and even the boards looked like they were nailed there many decades ago, and were half-rotten already. And though the trees of the forest were still alive, the ones nearest this mansion seemed to have lost all their leaves already. It was like this house attracted nothing but death. Here, Ivan knocked four times on the door, which surprisingly was the only thing that seemed new. As an answer to his knock, the door opened itself. A sight that would have everyone's blood curdle, and their skins crawl. But to Ivan, this was just another door, that he walked through, without any sense of dread.


	3. Chapter 3

Inside, the mansion didn't look any better. All the chairs and tables had fallen apart, and the few that haven't were missing a leg. The floor under Ivan creaked with every step he took. From under one floorboard, a spider, the size of a tarantula even popped up. Every cupboard in sight had drawers missing, and were covered in dust. One more spec, and there was a danger that the cupboards would collapse. Much like the stairs had done that led to the higher floor. But Ivan wasn't interested in going up the stairs. Next to the collapsed flight of stairs, there was a door. Once Ivan spotted it, he ran to that door.

Behind that door, was another flight of stairs. In the little light that could enter that space, Ivan could tell that these stairs were made of concrete, so this would not have collapsed at all. Smiling, he walked down, his right hand leaning against the wall for balance. Once he reached the final stair, he felt for something else on the wall: a dial. It took him a while, and all his strength to stand on his tip-toes, but he found the dial and turned it. As he did so, the room slowly illuminated. Gaslights showed him what was hidden in this basement. There were four boxes. Two of them were made of lead, and through electric cables, they were connected to what looked like a car-battery. These were freezers. All Ivan had to do was disconnect these freezers, and open them up. In one of them, he found a man. He was in his early twenties, Ivan knew, and yet he somehow looked so much older than Bernard. One thing that he spotted almost immediately, was that he had two holes in his chest, as if he died from being shot. In the other freezer, there laid what looked like a teenaged girl. Looked like, because some people who would see her the first time would wonder if she was even human. Her skin was yellow, her veins seemed to be visible through her skin, and looked black instead of blue. Her left hand was bigger than her right, while her right armer was bigger than her left. This, along with many more asymmetries of her body, paled when you looked at her head. The lower right half of her face looked bloated up like a balloon, which made her teeth on that side stick out of her mouth. Her left eye was completely black, as if it was one big pupil, with no sclera or iris, while her right eye was completely white, with the pupil being its only bit of color. None of this surprised Ivan. Even if it did, he had other worries. He picked up a few plastic bags, which contained a red liguid. With those bags, he ran to the third box in the room. This one was a coffin, which was marked with stylized letters, which looked like they were saying "DRAGOLEA". Above these letters, there was a small opening. There, Ivan placed a funnel, upon which he tore open the bag he just took, and place the iced liquid on top of the funnel. With that done, he turned to the final box. This one was made of a very old rock, and marked with all sorts of strange figures and symbols. It was an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. With all his might, he pushed the lid off the sarcophagus, revealing the long decomposed body of whoever laid in it. Ivan looked inside. He saw what little remained of the man (a skeleton, and dusty pieces of skin) lay wrapped in bandages. Next to him, was what looked like an old piece of parchment. He picked it up, unrolled it, and started reading it. Unfortunately for him, Ancient Egyptian wasn't his strong suit, so of course he stumbled over every word he said.  
"May I help?" a voice spoke to Ivan.  
Ivan looked around, but he didn't see anyone. Who could be talking to him? He heard a squeak, so he turned to look at where that came from. All he saw was a rat. He sighed of relief. At least he was relieved until he realized that rats don't talk.  
"I'm here, Ivan." he heard it clearly this time. He turned to his right. There stood an opaque apparition, of a man in a white coat. Still, there was no mistaking him.  
"Bernard!" Ivan cheered, "You're alive!"  
"Er..." Bernard looked at himself, "Not quite, I'm afraid."  
"What happened to you?" Ivan asked.  
"I couldn't risk them exposing what we were trying to do." Bernard explained, "I had to make a choice there and then. Which now that I think about it, was probably stupid."  
"Not really." Ivan said, "As a ghost, maybe you can help us better."  
"But I didn't know I'd return as a ghost." Bernard said, "So it's still stupid."  
"Oh, don't worry." Ivan assured him, "I'm sure they'll appreciate what you've done for them."  
Ivan pointed to all the four boxes that contained their friends.  
"At least I can now rest assured that Easton won't bring my body back to life with his re-activator."  
"You said you wanted to help me?" Ivan reminded him.  
"Yes." Bernard said, "Hold that parchment before me, please."  
"Why?" Ivan wondered.  
As an answer, Bernard tried grabbing a hold on the parchment. But instead of holding it, his hand went straight through the parchment.  
"Oh, I see." Ivan understood, and held the parchment before Bernard.  
As best as he could, Bernard read from the parchment. As soon as he was finished, the sarcophagus started rumbling. Curious, Bernard and Ivan looked into the sarcophagus. Before their very eyes, the dusty body became more and more solid. When at last an actual eye was looking through those bandages, the body inhaled deeply, as if it never breathed before in its life. Almost as if in a reflex, he sat up.  
"Easy, take it easy." Bernard told him, "You've been asleep for a very long time."  
The man turned his head to look at Bernard: "What manner of a man are you?"  
Bernard snickered: "The Victorian era has ended. People don't talk like that anymore."  
"But people still speak English?"  
"Yes." Bernard explained, "So you won't have to adjust much this time. Language-wise anyway."  
"Language-wise?" the man didn't understand.  
"Never thought I'd meet a real mummy!" Ivan spoke, "Tell me, what's it like to wear all those bandages?"  
"How dare you speak to Setuh in that manner!" the mummy replied.  
"If I may, your majesty." Bernard told him, "He is here to help you, and your other friends."  
The mummy, Setuh, looked around the room. Besides the sarcophagus, he saw the freezers.  
"There's a man with two bullet-holes in his heart." Bernard told him.  
Ivan looked up, puzzled, when he heard him say that.  
"What? I took a look around the room before I figured out how to talk to you." Bernard explained, "Anyway, do you think you can take those out?"  
"The ritual of taking objects out of people's bodies is well-known among all who know how to decipher the hieroglyphs." Setuh answered.  
"You might want to wait." Ivan told him, "His body is still frozen."  
Setuh looked at Ivan as he spoke. Doing so, his eyes were locked on the coffin behind him.  
Seeing the worried look on Setuh's face, Bernard told him: "I'm sure Ivan is doing what he can with that one."  
Setuh looked at his own body: "May he provide me with the necessary garments, also?"  
"Garments?" Ivan asked.  
"He means clothes." Bernard explained, "I have gathered some for everyone here."  
"You have?" Ivan wondered, "Where?"  
"Over there." Bernard pointed to something that was behind the sarcophagus.  
Given the enormous size of the sarcophagus, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Ivan hadn't spotted it before. There was what looked like a treasure chest behind it. This chest, Ivan opened. And true enough, there were some clothes inside.  
"Would these do?" Ivan asked Setuh.  
Setuh grinned. It may not be the type that existed back in the days of his last resurrection, nor from the era when he was alive the first time, but they'll have to do.


	4. Chapter 4

In Cefabew's CCTV room, Van Helsen was discussing the situation with Welles and Easton.  
"Tey still have not found Eevan?" Van Helsen asked, pronouncing "Ivan" in his own distinct way.  
"If he were dead, he would still leave a body behind." Easton reasoned, "Even if it were a charred one. Like..."  
He couldn't bring himself to say his name.  
"If it's any consolation..." Welles brought up, "... nobody could've seen it coming."  
"That's just it, I should have seen it coming!" Easton replied.  
"How so?" Van Helsen asked.  
"He's been ordering a load of supplies recently." he explained, "He said it's because you can never be too sure about anything."  
"Are you saying he ordered explosives into de building?" Van Helsen asked.  
"No." Easton answered, "But he did order the components to make them."  
"So he made de explosives while you were looking?" Van Helsen sounded almost enraged.  
"Like I said, I should have seen it coming." Easton said, "But he never ordered all the necessary components at once. Every single one of them was ordered through different people and ended up on different lists. I never saw all of his orders together."  
Welles scoffed: "Apart they seem harmless, but mix them together..."  
"Precisely." Easton confirmed.  
"So he must have planned tis many months ago." Van Helsen deduced.  
"But why?" Welles wondered.  
"Since the explosives used to destroy Feuerstein's lab were the same that were used to wreck mine, I would think he was in league with Ivan this whole time." Easton thought out loud.  
"And Ivan stole the Ranger-machines..." Welles realized.  
Van Helsen cursed in his own language, before saying: "Our biggest fear is real now."  
"Not necessarily." Welles spoke, "Didn't you say so earlier, that Master King is our most beloved Mascot?"  
"Yes." Van Helsen replied, "Why?"  
"If we let him search for Ivan, the kids will see he's doing something big, and will be willing to help." Welles explained, "This way, we will find him much faster."  
"Good idea." Van Helsen agreed.  
"Doctor, if I may." Easton interjected, "This may also be a perfect opportunity to test out my Re-Actives."  
"Walking dead people?" Van Helsen sounded skeptical, "Tink you not that would be too scary for children?"  
"Not if we tell them they're adults that will follow their every command." Easton suggested, "They'll be everything a kid wishes for."  
Van Helsen smiled: "Do it."

While they were discussing the situation, Ivan was busy helping everyone recover. The heat of the gaslights helped the frozen bodies to thaw out faster, as well as liquify the red block ice. As soon as that one block had disappeared through the funnel, Ivan opened another bag, and poured its contents through the funnel. He would have done this again, seeing as the person inside the coffin still wasn't reacting, but...  
"Hey you!" a loud and heavy voice called at him.  
Ivan looked in the direction it came from. The teenage-looking girl was the one who called him: "It's so cold here."  
"I'm so sorry." Ivan apologized.  
He ran to the treasure chest, where he found a blanket. He picked it up, only to discover it moved.  
"A living blanket?" he wondered.  
The girl walked up to him and took the blanket out of his hands. As she unfolded it, something fell out of it, and just as quickly ran away.  
"That rat again?" Ivan wondered.  
"It'll have to be enough." the girl said, as she wrapped the blanket around herself.  
Now that she was calm this time, Ivan somehow felt more uncomfortable around her. Which became evident in the way he looked away from her, as if avoiding eye-contact, and shivered, as if the cold she felt before was somehow transferred onto him.  
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.  
"Eh..." Ivan had to do some quick thinking, so to not make her angry: "Do... Don't you want to try some of these on?"  
He picked up a pile of clothes from the chest, and gave it to her. The girl looked at the clothes. She picked up one white shirt.  
"That wouldn't fit me." she tossed it away as soon as she said it, upon which she picked up a short leather skirt.  
"What kind of world is this where women are expected to wear that!" she exclaimed.  
"Do take your time, er..." Ivan hesitated.  
"Eva." the girl introduced herself, just when she was holding a pair of high-heeled shoes, and tossed them away in disgust.  
While she was still rummaging through the clothes, Ivan picked up a cape, which was black on the outside and red on the inside, and had one high collar. He walked back to the coffin, where he unfolded the cape.  
"Ivan, we could use your help here." Bernard called for him.  
Hastily, he placed the cape onto the coffin, and ran to Bernard. He was standing (or rather floating, since he was a ghost) next to Setuh's sarcophagus, which was covered again, and had the body with two chest-holes lying on it.  
"What do I have to do?" he asked.  
"You have to help me restrain this man." Setuh explained.  
"Why? He's still dead." Ivan wondered.  
"Not when we take the bullets out." Bernard replied, "And when he lives again, you don't want him to be unchained."  
Ivan formed an "O" with his mouth, and proceeded to help Setuh.  
"Why aren't you helping?" Eva asked him.  
"Because he can't pick things up." Ivan replied for him, as he clicked one end of a chain around the body's left wrist. When he moved on to do the same to his right wrist, he noticed the way Setuh was dressed. He wore a worn-out leather jacket, with brown pants. He almost looked like the archaeologist that discovered him, if it wasn't for the fact that he still wore some of his bandages under those clothes.  
"I'm prepared." Setuh said, after he had fastened the body's legs, "Where are my instruments?"  
Bernard pointed him in the right direction, where he found a small metallic box. Setuh opened it up, and found all sorts of pincers and scalpels. Everything he needed to do what needs to be done.  
"So did the world change?" Eva asked Bernard.  
Bernard floated over to her, and saw how she selected her clothes. She was wearing jeans, but from the look of it she had to tear off its left pant just so they could fit. The same could be said about her green T-shirt, which had torn on the right side, so she had to tie that side together. He also noticed that she decided to wear heavy boots, so make herself look more dangerous than her size would suggest (even if none of her body-parts match in size).  
"Quite a bit." was his answer to her question.  
"They at least don't hunt us anymore." was her follow-up question.  
Bernard hesitated to answer: "In actual fact, very few people believe you're real. But that's not why I'm bringing you back."  
A loud clang could be heard before Eva could respond. Both of them looked at what caused it. Only Setuh and Ivan weren't surprised, as if they both knew what it was.  
"What was that?" Bernard questioned.  
"I managed to remove one projectile."  
"Good." Bernard congratulated him.  
"Soon Daguerre will awaken." Eva, through her rough voice, sounded enthused by the idea, "That only leaves..."  
She turned her head to look at the coffin. Her eyes fell on "DRAGOLEA", and for the first time since she woke up, Bernard saw something on her face that looked like concern.  
"Ivan, how long should this take?"  
"I don't know." Ivan replied, "I should have worked already."  
Bernard cursed, just when he heard a second clang, indicating the second bullet had been removed. "Maybe this hibernation took too long." Bernard tried to explain, "Maybe..."  
He covered his mouth with his hand, as if the thought alone was too terrible, he wouldn't allow himself to say it out loud. But it were those unspoken words that had everyone look at him, the look of worry and fear readable in all their postures. So afraid were they, they couldn't bring themselves to say a word.  
"ROOOOOAAAAARRRR..." was the only thing that could wake them from their trance.  
All four of them jumped at the sound, and looked at the previously dead body. Where once was a man, there now was something a little more sinister than that. The knees were bending inward, the torso appeared more cylindrical in shape, while hair had appeared on the hands, the neck and the face, which in turn didn't look like that of a man anymore. The nose and mouth had become one limb, the teeth had become longer and sharper, while the ears had taken a triangle shape.  
"Don't worry." Bernard told everyone, "It's part of his natural healing process. As soon as those holes are gone, he'll turn back to normal."  
"Easy for you to say!" Ivan cried, "You're already dead!"  
Both Setuh and Eva laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is it true?" a child asked, "You really saw Master King?"  
"Yep." another child answered. It was the same child who went to a candy store earlier that day.  
"You're joking! What is he like in real life?"  
"He's exactly as the commercials show him." was the answer, "He's kind, friendly. He's a king, so he has to be."  
"I am glad you feel that way." a heavier voice said this.  
Both children turned their heads to look: "Master King!"  
The Mascot known as Master King smiled even brighter than before: "Nice to see you again. Because I need your help."  
"What can we do?" he asked.  
"A villain has nearly destroyed my home." Master King explained.  
"How evil!" both kids spoke in unison.  
"Indeed." Master King agreed, "And now we're trying to look for him."  
In his hands, he held pieces of paper. He gave one piece to each of them. Both kids looked at their own piece. What they held was a picture of the person Master King was looking for. A picture of Ivan.  
"Yech!" one of them cried, "What a monster!"  
"If you can tell your friends all about this man, that would be extremely helpful." Master King further explained.  
"We will!" the candy store child exclaimed.  
"But wait." the other one said, "How are we gonna convince our friends you told us this? They'll never believe us."  
"You can take this man here as proof." Master King pointed to a man standing next to him. Even though he was with Master King the whole time, the children were so mesmerized by their favorite Mascot that they didn't notice this other man. He looked like someone of their grandfather's age, dressed in a business-suit, but with a blank stare on his face.  
"Just tell him what to do, and he'll do it." Master King explained, "Tell your friends I gave him to you."  
"You're joking!" they both said.  
"Go on, try him out."  
The candy store kid told the blank-stare man: "Stand on one leg."  
The man did exactly that. Both boys laughed, the other asked him: "Cluck like a chicken."  
Again, he obeyed, no questions asked.  
"Have fun with your Re-Active." Master King said before he left them.  
"We will!"

While the children of the city were introduced to walking dead people, without even knowing these people are dead, things started to quiet down a little among Bernard and his new friends. As soon as the wolf-man's injuries had healed, he slowly turned back into a regular man. A man in his early twenties, but dressed in a tweed suit, something that was typical for the late 19th century. As soon as he was a man again, Ivan and Setuh unchained him.  
"How long was I gone?" he asked.  
"Over a hundred years." Bernard answered, "My family has been keeping all of you safe for all that time, Daguerre."  
The man, Daguerre, looked at Bernard: "Are you descended from the Rumsfeld family?"  
"Yes I am."  
Daguerre looked around. He saw two others that he recognized, and one that he didn't: "Who's the hunchback?"  
"Ivan is someone I hired to help me." Bernard explained, "After most of my family died, I had very little help to maintain you guys."  
"So that's why you're here." Eva now understood.  
"Wait, only three of us are up?" Daguerre wondered, "What about...?"  
He didn't finish his sentence, as he could see the coffin for himself. It was closed, implying that whoever was kept in there was still in there.  
"We still don't know why nothing has happened yet." Setuh explained.  
"Unfortunately we don't have much time to wait for that either." Bernard said.  
"Why not?" Daguerre questioned.  
"Believe me, I wouldn't have awoken you from your hibernation if I didn't think there was a good reason." he added.  
"We know." Eva was starting to sound impatient, "What is that reason?"  
"The reason is called Cefabew." Bernard explained.  
Except for Ivan, everyone either squinted their eyes or raised their brows (or some combination thereof).  
"CEnter For A BEtter World." Bernard explained, "Or Cefabew for short."  
"What's wrong with them?" Setuh asked.  
"It's an organization that, as their name implies, does whatever it can to make the world more livable." Bernard explained, "Provide better jobs, advance technologies, cure diseases, and so forth."  
"What's that got to do with us?" Eva asked.  
"They strive to make the world better." Bernard said, "Better... for humans."  
"But not for us?" Setuh asked.  
"No." Bernard confirmed, "Anything that can cause harm to them, they want to eradicate. That includes not just diseases, but people like yourself."  
"But I thought you said people don't believe we exist anymore." Eva brought up.  
"Most of the general population doesn't." Bernard said, "But Cefabew is founded by people whose ancestors hunted you down a hundred years ago."  
Daguerre stood erect upon hearing this: "You mean... people like Van Helsen?"  
"And Feuerstein." Bernard said.  
"Feuerstein!" the sound of that name made Eva bare her teeth, ball her fists, and almost growl.  
"So while most people don't believe you exist anymore, Cefabew's leaders still do. They were even making weapons, with the specific goal of hunting you down. Or rather people like you."  
Bernard looked at his own opaque body, reminding himself that he's a ghost: "People like us. If I kept you in your slumber, you'd be completely defenseless when they finally do show up."  
"Then let us not waste any more of our valuable time." Eva suggested, "We better go out to stop them before..."  
"Not so fast." Bernard interrupted her, "Times have changed too much since your time. If you barely survived the Victorian era, how much of a chance do you think you have today?"  
"So what do you propose we do?" Setuh asked.  
"Ivan, show them the Ranger-machines." Bernard ordered Ivan, who complied by taking the machines he stole before out of his pockets, and laying them on Setuh's sarcophagus.  
"What are those?" Daguerre asked.  
"These are the weapons I mentioned earlier." Bernard answered, "The ones they were working on to hunt you down. Now we will use those weapons against them."  
"They don't look like weapons." Eva remarked.  
"As Feuerstein explained it to me..." Ivan explained, "... turn that circle on it halfway, and it not only makes you stronger, it also makes you better at what you can already do."  
"In other words, if you're already strong enough to bend steel, this can make you strong enough to bend a car.  
"Aren't cars made of wood?" Daguerre asked.  
Bernard sighed: "Right, when I say "car", you're thinking of a coach."  
"What happens when you turn the dial all the way?" Setuh asks Ivan.  
"It gives you a protective suit." Ivan answered.  
"Maybe it helps if you demonstrate what it does to them." Bernard suggested.  
"Oh, OK." Ivan immediately picked up one Ranger-machine, the white one, which he put on around his right wrist, after which he turned the dial. Much to everybody's surprise, it shot a few sparks and bolts of lightening, but it didn't do what Ivan said it would. Ivan quickly turned the dial back to its original setting.  
"That's supposed to help us?" Eva questioned, frowning.  
"Maybe I'm not strong enough." Ivan said, "Feuerstein did say this doesn't work on everyone."  
"Let me try." Daguerre suggested, as he picked up a blue Ranger-machine, put it around his wrist, and turned it half-way. He looked at his hand, which slowly turned hairier, while its nails grew sharper. He dug those nails into the wall and pulls down, creating deep cuts into the wall.  
"Interesting." Daguerre said, "I usually break my nails when I try that."  
Eva and Setuh look at each other, then at the Ranger-machines. Each of them picked one up. Eva took the green one, while Setuh took a yellow one. Eva switched hers on, after which she placed her hands on the freezer, in which she spent much time sleeping. She pushed on the lid, which suddenly fell through the freezer. She kicked it in the side, not creating a dent, but a large hole. She laughed as she realized just how strong this machine made her.  
Setuh switched his machine on. He didn't notice any immediate change at first, but then he heard the squeaking of an animal. Instinctively, he pointed at where it came from, but before he could say anything, the bandages around his arm unfurled themselves, flew toward the thing that was making the sound, then returned to the arm, placing the animal it captured into Setuh's hand. Whatever word existed in Setuh's own language for how he felt, he mumbled it.  
"Great! You caught the rat." Ivan cheered.  
"Looks like the machines work fine for you." Bernard said.  
"Indeed." Daguerre replied, "That leaves just..."  
He looked at the only remaining Ranger-machine. The red one.  
"The white machine." Bernard said, "If Ivan can't use it, then who... Wait a minute!"  
They all looked at him, but Bernard ignored their reaction: "Ivan, put the machine on that rat."  
"Why?" he asked.  
"Just do it!" he nearly barked.  
Ivan did as he was told. Setuh held the rat out so Ivan could put the machine around its body.  
"Now, Setuh, kill it."  
"You dare speaking to me like that?!" Setuh started to get aggravated.  
"Trust me, you'll thank me for this later." Bernard retorted.  
Setuh shrugged, then twisted the rat's head.  
"How would that help us?" Eva asked.  
"I died just earlier today." Bernard explained, "And I'm now wearing the clothes that I wore when I died."  
"So if the rat died wearing that machine, you think it would still be wearing it as a ghost?" Daguerre asked.  
"And if it does, I can wear that and use the machine." Bernard explained.  
Almost as soon as he said it, something opaque fell from the rat's body. Bernard saw this, and dived to catch it. To everyone's surprise, it was the rat's ghost, and it was indeed wearing the Ranger-machine.  
"Clever." Eva remarked.  
"Don't celebrate just yet." Daguerre told her, "Let us witness whether or not it works first."  
Bernard put the machine around his wrist, and turned the dial. He squinted his eyes. He turned the dial back and forth, several times.  
"What is the matter?" Setuh asked.  
"Nothing's happening." Bernard explained.  
"Did I not say so?" Daguerre scoffed.  
"Wait." Bernard raised his hand, so to let the ghost-machine merge with the physical machine. He turned the dial again. This time, something did happen. A shock caused Setuh to let go, dropping the rat, but not the machine. Somehow, it not only stuck around Bernard's wrist, it also caused him to look like a solid body again, instead of the transparent ghost that he was before.  
"Interesting." Daguerre spoke.  
Bernard looked at his own body, and his hands. He then raised his left finger, with which he poked Setuh's shoulder.  
"Don't you dare touch me!" he shouted, before he realized the significance of this, "Touching? I thought you couldn't touch things!?"  
"I couldn't." Bernard replied, "But I can now!"  
"This is good, isn't it?" Eva asked.  
"Yes." Daguerre said, "I can now fight along with you guys."  
"Speaking of which..." Bernard remembered, "Cefabew has probably realized by now that Ivan stole these machines. They're probably looking for him now. If so, it won't be long before they find us here."  
"So what are you saying?" Setuh asked.  
"We better go out to stop them." Bernard suggested.  
"Find them before they find us." Daguerre understood, "Sounds like a good strategy."  
"But wait!" Eva stopped them, "What about... you know..."  
She pointed at the coffin, telling everyone exactly what she was thinking, but was too scared to say out loud.  
Bernard turned to Ivan: "Will you take care of that?"  
Ivan nodded.  
"Good." Bernard turned to the other three, "We better move out!"  
Before Setuh could object to him giving orders, Bernard was already heading up the stairs. Daguerre and Eva followed suit, and Setuh, while still angry, did the same thing, leaving Ivan behind, with the still closed coffin. Uncertain of what else to do, he opened another bag of red liquid, and poured some of it into the coffin.  
"Please, come back." he nearly begged.


	6. Chapter 6

Van Helsen, Welles and Easton were watching the CCTV screens, where they saw Master King and the Re-Actives roaming the streets. Of course they were greeted by the general public, shouting their support to him.  
"You were right, Dr. Easton." Van Helsen said, "It was a good idea to let tose Re-Actives come along."  
"A lot more work seems to be done this way." Easton replied.  
"Don't cheer too soon." Welles spoke, "We have yet to find Ivan."  
"With tose pictures Master King spreads, we will find him much sooner." Van Helsen was convinced of that."

On the streets, Master King was explaining the situation to some people.  
"I think I saw this man before." one of them told Master King, "He looks like a dangerous man."  
"You should consider him that." Master King explained, "He stole something from us, with which he can destroy everything we've been hoping to achieve."  
"In that case, I'd love to help." the man said, "He went..."  
"Do not waste your energy!" a to them unknown voice suddenly sounded through the street.  
Everybody turned to look at who spoke. They saw one man dressed for the Victorian era, one other who wore bandages under his clothes, another man that they could see through, while what looked like a heavily deformed woman was accompanying them.  
Someone among the crowd scoffed: "A little early for Halloween, don't ya think?"  
"Halloween? What's Halloween?" Setuh asked.  
"That was supposed to be an insult." Bernard elaborated.  
Eva growled: "That's all these people do with their lives."  
"Not anymore." Daguerre said, "Ready?"  
He raised his right arm, revealing his Ranger-machine.  
"Ready!" the other three joined in, raising their own arms as well.

Back in the CCTV room, Easton wondered: "Who are those people?"  
"Look!" Welles pointed at something, "What's that on their wrists?"  
Easton took one look at them: "They look a lot like those Ranger-ma..."  
He stopped himself, as he realized what he was really seeing.  
"Tat is not all." Van Helsen spoke, "Tat ghost, he looks like Bernart. And tose otter tree, I know I have seen them somewhere else."

All four of them placed their left hands on their machines' dial and turned them completely. Lightning, each bearing a different color, surrounded them, as all four of them raised their right hands up. Soon enough, the lightnings took on different forms, until all four of them were dressed in their battle armors. Bernard's suit was white, while his visor was really two black circles for him to look through. He almost looked like one of those white sheets with holes cut out for the eyes, which is often associated with ghosts. Eva wore a green suit, of which its helmet had two bolts attached to its sides, while the top of the helmet was black, as if it had hair. Her body-suit looked like it had been torn apart before, and sewn back together again. Setuh wore a yellow suit, which looked like they were bandages wrapped all over his body, leaving only his eyes exposed. Or rather they would have been exposed, if it wasn't for its black visor. And Daguerre's suit was blue, which had strange gray spots, like the craters of the moon. His gloves had claws, like a wolf, and even the helmet was equipped with sharp ears, while its visor was decorated with canine teeth.  
As soon as they had transformed, the people that Master King was talking to before started running away. Master King seemed appalled by this reaction, but he quickly recovered, and addressed the four: "You are using machines that don't belong to you!"  
"Maybe so." Daguerre replied, "But your organization has no right to interfere with people's lives either."  
"So Easton went through with his Re-Actives, eh?" Bernard realized.  
"What are Re-Actives?" Setuh asked.  
"People he brought back from the dead." Bernard explained.  
"If you don't give those machines back, I'll have to take them by force."  
"Just try it!" Eva challenged him.  
"Very well." Master King replied, "Get them, Re-Actives!"  
As ordered, the Re-Actives ran toward the team. Setuh immediately lashed out by unwinding the bandages around his arms, and hitting the ones coming right for him. Eva punched through the concrete of the street, picking up one piece of the street and throwing it at the Re-Actives. Daguerre didn't waste any time, and ran toward them, using his claws to tear them apart. Bernard let himself be surrounded by his attackers, only to become a ghost every time one tried to hit him, so the Re-Actives ended up hitting each other instead.

As Van Helsen watched all of this, he was at a loss for words: "Now I know who tey are. Tey are the monsters my forefatters hunted for."  
"Are you sure?" Welles asked.  
"Yes." Van Helsen answered, "That wolf-man, that is Daguerre. That mummy is Setuh, and that woman is Eva."  
"Eva?" Welles questioned, "As in Feuerstein's Eva?"  
"Not our Dr. Feuerstein, but his own forefatter." Van Helsen elaborated.  
"All right, that's it." Easton made to leave the room.  
"Where are you going?" Van Helsen asked.  
"I can't just sit here and do nothing." Easton answered, "I'm gonna join in on the fight."  
"How do you plan to do tat?" Van Helsen wondered.  
"Do those prototypes still work?" he asked in return.


	7. Chapter 7

After a relatively short fight, the four monsters had taken care of the Re-Actives. Though the street was now littered with bodies, they didn't care about them. They turned their attention to the Mascot called Master King, who spoke: "What do you think you're doing?"  
"You're about to turn this world into a place where humans can thrive and live perfect lives." Eva told him, "We can't have that."  
"Oh can't you." Master King wasn't asking, "Who do you think you are?"  
"I am the face of the moon." Daguerre said.  
"The unwanted child." Eva answered.  
"The bringer of war and chaos." Setuh replied.  
Bernard had to do some quick thinking to come up with a good follow-up: "The... um... thing bumps in your dreams."  
The other three looked at him. Though he couldn't see their faces, Bernard had an idea of what they were thinking: "Hey, I only just became a ghost. So give me a break."  
"You monsters have no right to disturb the peace." Master King said, as he raised his paws, which looked unnaturally big, "If you don't leave these people alone, I must destroy you."  
"Destroy us?" Daguerre questioned, "As murdering us?"  
"Why doesn't he just say that?" Eva wondered.  
Before anyone could reply, they heard what sounded like a cub's roar.  
"Yaaaar!" it sounded.  
When the four turned to look, all they saw was Master King running up to them. Setuh whipped out his bandages, with which he hit Master King's feet, who immediately tripped.  
"Is that it?" Eva wondered, challenging him, "I thought lions were fierce than that."  
"He's made to entertain children." Bernard told her, "He's not made for combat."  
"Then he's hardly a challenge for us." Setuh realized.  
What sounded like a bark came from Master King, as he leapt back on his feet and jumped on the four of them. He placed his paws on Eva and Daguerr's helmets, which he then forced to hit each other. Setuh tried to wrap his bandages around Master King, but he then pulled on them, pulling Setuh closer to him, kicking him in the head. He raised his paws again to hit Bernard. The latter took on his ghost-form, so Master King's attacks went right through him. This gave the other three time to recover. Daguerre used his claws to lash out at Master King, followed by Eva picking him off the ground and tossing him away.  
As soon as Master King was at a distance, Bernard took on his corporeal form, and said: "How do you like that?"  
As soon as he said it, explosions could be heard. Before any of them knew what was going on, all of them fell down, as though they were hit. Including Bernard.  
"Wha... what just happened?" he asked.  
"Looks like you're not as invincible as you thought." a voice sounded.  
"Easton?" Bernard recognized the voice, while he and his friends were trying to get up.  
All four of them looked up. Joining Master King were what looked like two knights in shining armor, both of whom were carrying what looked like rifles, but they were of such a peculiar design. At least they were to three of the four.  
"What are those?" Eva asked, the pain audible in her voice.  
"Those are machine guns." Bernard explained, "They can fire dozens of bullets in mere seconds."  
"What happened to you?" Daguerre asked him, "I thought nothing could touch you?"  
"When he is a ghost, tat is troo." another voice sounded through one of the armors said, "But when he takes on a bodily form, we can hurt him."  
"Van Helsen?" Bernard recognized that voice.  
The other three immediately looked up as they heard that name.  
"One of those knights..." Setuh asked, "Is that Van Helsen?"  
"Looks like they remember your ancestor." Easton chuckled.  
"I would tink tey would." Van Helsen replied.  
"Good thing you two arrived." Master King said, "They were wiping the floor with me."  
"We saw." Van Helsen replied.  
"We shouldn't have sent you here." Easton told him, "You're ill-prepared for these guys."  
"But we are prepared." Van Helsen said, as he cocked his gun.

As the four monsters were fighting their mortal foe, Ivan was still nowhere near awakening whoever was inside the coffin. As he himself had said it before, it should have happened already. But the longer it took, the more he realized how long it took for the other four to arrive. He started pacing up and down the room, becoming more and more impatient.  
"I don't understand." he said, seemingly to no one in particular, "They would only go out to stop Cefabew from looking for me. Those machines should have made them stronger, so this should have been easy. They should be back by now! What's taking them so long? Did something happen? Are they caught? Did the machines malfunction? Was Feuerstein prepared for something like this? I can't stand it anymore!"  
He then turned to the coffin. He slowly approached it, as he continued talking: "Something must be wrong. I just know it! But... what can I do to help? It's me that they want! If they spot me, I'll be captured, and then I can't help them. Then I can't help you."  
He moved closer and closer to the coffin.  
"Please!" he begged, "Don't let us down. We need you!"  
He stopped coming closer. Did he imagine it, or did he see what he thought he saw. Did he notice a slight tremor? If there was, then why did it stop? Another tremor followed. Longer this time. Ivan knew for sure this time, the coffin was moving. Too fast for him to process, the lid blasted itself off, and flew toward Ivan. The last thing he saw were the letters "DRAGOLEA" before the lid hit him in the face. All went dark for him, but as soon as the light returned to his eyes, he was sure he was hearing footsteps. He pushed the lid off of him. While his vision was still blurry, he was sure that what he saw was someone going up the stairs, wearing that black cape he had placed on the coffin before. As soon as Ivan realized what just happened, he started laughing.

Meanwhile, the four monsters weren't faring much better. Eva tried throwing more concrete to her enemies, but the guns blasted them before they could hit anything. Daguerre tried an air attack of his own, but got shot out of the sky before he could do anything. Bernard tried to punch the others, but unfortunately for him that meant he had to take on a corporeal form, which made him vulnerable to attacks. Setuh tried using his bandages, but the two Knights were too strong to be held by those. It didn't take long before their three foes had taken the four monsters down, with the three of them towering over them.  
"So sorry." Van Helsen spoke, "But tose Ranger-machines are not for you to use."  
"Yeah." Easton agreed, "Plus, do you realize how much we had to pay the Japanese, just to get the technology for those?"  
"Bernard, you should know." Van Helsen brought up, "You have worked for us so long, why did you betray us?"  
"Does it matter?" Master King wondered, "They are dangers to our children. We must get rid of them."  
"That is exactly what we were planning to do." Easton said.  
Master King laughed, as he cracked his knuckles, while Easton and Van Helsen readied their guns.  
"May the great Scott have mercy on your souls." Van Helsen spoke before aiming his guns.  
Suddenly, something hit their guns, knocking it out of their hands. All three of them were surprised to see this. Too surprised to defend themselves against another such hit. Something flew into Van Helsen's face, which not only blinded him, but also caused him to panic.  
"What is tat?!" he cried, "Get it off me!"  
He started jumping and screaming, without realizing he was moving away from the four monsters. In an attempt to try and help him, Easton and Master King followed him, only for the thing to fly into Master King's belly, after which it flew between Easton's legs. In an attempt to try and catch it, Easton bent down, but he didn't take into account that the armor he was wearing was too heavy, so he fell down.  
"What is that?" Master King wondered.  
"It looked like..." Van Helsen started, but stopped as soon as he saw "it" flying toward the other four.  
What he was looked like a bat, which stopped flying as soon as it was near the other four. Its wings, seemed to grow larger, while the rest of its body seemed to expand. Soon enough, it was no longer airborn, and it hit the ground. Before them was now a figure, who had its back turned to Van Helsen, was sitting on its heels, head down, and barely visible behind the high black collar, which was part of a black cape, which was now spread over the concrete street. Slowly, he figure rose up from the ground, its cape flowing along with the body.  
"Isn't that...?" Easton asked.  
"No." Van Helsen whispered, "I cannot be. It is not possible."  
The figure had stretched up its entire body, raising the head up from behind the collar. With one swift move of its left arm, it lifted the cape up, while the the body took a sharp turn. The turn ended with a loud click, coming from the feet, which drew Van Helsen and his two friends' attention to look at the figure's legs. What they saw where a pair of high-heeled shoes, worn by perfectly shaped legs, which were covered by a short leather skirt. Their eyes moved above the skirt, where they saw a white shirt, apparently fitting its wearer tightly. And above the shirt was the face of the most beautiful woman any of them had ever seen.  
"Lea Drago?" Van Helsen said, "Alive?"  
The woman, Lea, grinned, and though it increased her beauty, it also made her look more sinister than before.


	8. Chapter 8

"Van Helsen..." Lea murmured, "Several generations have gone by, and your English is still the same. How do you do it."  
"You cannot be still alive." Van Helsen said, "My great-grandfather killed you."  
Lea laughed through her nose. A laugh which some would consider cute, but sounded ominous coming from her: "Were you there when it happened?"  
She started walking closer to her enemies, each click of her shoes causing the men's hearts to skip a beat.  
"Why... why are you so... so afraid of her?" Easton asked Van Helsen, "It took her this long to appear. She's not at her strongest."  
"Coming from a man who's taken down by a bat." Lea said, rolling her R's and exaggerating her vowels, while never wiping that grin off her face.  
"Come on, you two." Master King started talking to the armored men as he would to children, "You fought the other four with so much confidence. What is just another monster?"  
"Monster?" Lea sounded angry, but the smile on her face gave it a sarcastic meaning, "You were the ones planning to hunt us down while we slept."  
This sudden revelation confused Daguerre: "How does she know about that?"  
"She may not have fully revived." Bernard speculated, "But maybe still enough to hear my story."  
"Can you blame us?" Easton questioned, "Throughout the ages, you and your kind have killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people."  
"But never more than needed." Lea interrupted, "Unlike your kind, who would kill for the shear pleasure, or for what you would call a moral obligation."  
"We do what we do to progress humanity." Van Helsen explained.  
"Of course. Humans above all." Lea cackled, "Everything else has to leave. Who are the monsters again?"  
"This is not the time or place for this sort of discussions." Easton stopped her from going any further.  
Another cackle escaped Lea, which made the men shiver in their armors, audibly.  
Master King walked in front of the two men: "In any case, you surprised us earlier with your attack. That won't work a second time."  
"True." Lea agreed, "But I have your organization to thank for giving me a trump card."  
Before anyone could ask what she meant by that, Lea unveiled her right arm from inside her cape. Since this was the first time anyone saw her right arm, they immediately noticed something about it even before she held it up next to her face. It had a tiny red machine with a dial attached to her wrist. The red Ranger-machine. Out of reflex, Van Helsen and Easton reached for their guns, but couldn't find them. They remembered she had knocked them out of their hands, so their eyes scanned the area, until they found their guns again. They were lying somewhere between Lea Drago and her monster friends. Too fast for them to perceive, she placed her hand on the dial, turned it completely, raised her right hand into the air, as red lightning enveloped her, becoming her red suit. Her helmet's visor was decorated with what looked like fangs, while also sporting a collar similar to what she had on her cape before. The symbol on her chest resembled a bat, which had a hole cut out, showing the bat's teeth, and from those teeth, red lines appeared to be drawn, as if there was blood dripping from its mouth.  
"The queen of the night..." Lea whispered, then exclaimed: "... has returned!"  
"I cannot believe it." Van Helsen spoke, "Monsters are now using our Ranger-machines."  
"So what? They are... Monster-Rangers?" Easton asked.  
"They're Monstrangers." Master King said.  
"Monstranger?" Lea scratched her chin, "I like the sound of that."  
The other four joined her to face the other three.  
"They aren't the sentai we hoped to make." Van Helsen stated.  
"Sentai?" the word meant nothing to Lea.  
"Eh... Miss Drago, if I may." Bernard said.  
"Bernard." she replied, "You gave your life for our safety. You can call me by my first name."  
"All right." Bernards spoke more confidently this time, "Sentai is a Japanese word for task-force."  
"They did say they got the technology from Japan, didn't they?" Daguerre remembered.  
"So why don't we call ourselves a sentai, just to spite them?" Eva suggested.  
"You cannot do that!" Van Helsen shouted, "The sentai stand for justice, beauty, and all that is good. Not for creatures of terror like yourself."  
"Does every one in this time talk like that?" Setuh wondered.  
"Then I suppose..." Lea replied to Van Helsen, "... that's an idea that needs revision."  
"Not while we're still here!" Master King exclaimed.  
"Then you'll have to make way for us." Lea spoke, "Queen of the night. Monster Red!"  
Taking her queue, Daguerre followed up with: "Face of the moon. Monster Blue!"  
With as much enthusiasm, Eva followed: "The unwanted child. Monster Green!"  
Setuh joined in with: "The bringer of war and chaos. Monster Yellow!"  
Bernard, remembering his earlier attempt, had to quickly come up with something: "The ghost you don't believe in. Monster White!"  
The other four looked at him again, to which Bernard could only say: "Don't look at me. When did you guys come up with your lines?"  
Lea decided to ignore him. She was told the word "sentai" was Japanese. In her mind it had to be a new word, because nowhere in her knowledge of did that word exist. However, remembering what Van Helsen just called them, creatures of terror, she did find a word for "terror".  
"Shingai Sentai." Lea, now Monster Red, proclaimed.  
The others took this as their queue to state, along with her: "Monstranger!"  
"Who cares what you call yourselves." Master King said, "We're gonna stop you."  
"We will see about that." Monster Red spoke, as she started running toward her opponent.  
Master King was making a stance, but somewhere in the middle of running, Monster Red took on a different form. The once solid body suddenly split up into several smaller bodies, all of which made flapping and screeching sounds. Before Master King could realize this one woman had suddenly changed into not one but several bats, he was already surrounded by the entire flock. He tried hitting one, but that only made the others angrier, and made them start hitting him harder. The two armored men tried helping their Mascot friend, but each of them got stopped by two of the Monstrangers.  
"Not so tough now, are you Easton?" Bernard, now Monster White, taunted him, while Eva, now Monster Green, held him in place.  
Daguerre, now Monster Blue, had his arms and legs wrapped around Van Helsen's head, so the latter couldn't see Setuh, now Monster Yellow, unfurling his bandages, which crawled their way into the armor. After a mere few seconds, the armor fell apart, leaving Van Helsen completely unprotected. Monster White, Meanwhile, took on ghost-form, allowing him to enter Easton's armor, forcing it to punch holes into itself, damaging the suit beyond repair.

While those four were having fun, Master King had trouble staying ahead of these bats. Or he did, until he noticed something unusual. All the bats attacked him, but there was one that seemed to keep flying around, but never directly engage him in battle. Without thinking about it for another second, he grabbed hold of that one bat. He squeezed its body tightly, causing all the bats to come back together, and form Monster Red again.  
"Gotcha!" Master King cried.  
The other four Monstrangers saw this. They let go of their victims, and rushed to Monster Red's aid. All four at once punched Master King, forcing him to let go of Monster Red.

While that was going on, Van Helsen and Easton rushed to pick up their guns. Easton pointed his gun at the Monstrangers, ready to shoot, but Van Helsen stopped him.  
"Do tat not." Van Helsen said, "What if you miss and hit our friend? Or even if you hit, you will only make them angry. They can kill us without our armors."  
Easton shivered in anger, but he lowered his gun as he realized his boss was right: "What do you suggest we do?"  
"Better retreat now, and come back wit help." he suggested, and Easton agreed. The two left the scene.

Before Master King realized it, he was surrounded by the monsters. But, being the lion that was, he would not show them any fear. He stood firmly on both of his feet, his paws raised, letting them know he's still ready for battle. This enraged the Monstrangers so much, they all assumed positions. This confused Master King, to a point that he lowered his guard.  
"Icy Grip!" Monster White called out before he took on his ghost-form and ran through Master King.  
As he felt Monster White run through him, and unearthly cold ran through Master King's body, freezing his muscles instantly.  
"Master Whiplash!" Monster Yellow shouted, after which his bandages lashed out, damaging Master King's eyes, blinding him.  
"Unnatural Punch!" Monster Green followed by running as fast as she could toward Master King, punching him in the stomach with her right fist, and in his chest with her left fist, damaging many of his internal organs.  
"Werewolf Scratch!" Monster Blue howled out, as he used his sharp claws to cut Master King up.  
Despite the many attacks from these monsters, despite the many damages his body has sustained, Master King was still standing.  
"Vampire... Fangs!" Monster Red called out, as she jumped up into the sky, with such a grace it almost looked like she was flying up. She stuck her feet out, the heels of her boots having become visibly sharper, and steered herself into landing on top of Master King. Her heels dug themselves into his body, and judging from the look on Master King's face, this was something he had no defense against. Monster Red pushed herself away from him, and with the same elegance as before, she landed on both of her feet, at a safe distance from Master King, who could no longer stand on his own feet, so he fell down, and exploded.


	9. Chapter 9

As she watched over the burned remains of Master King, Lea deactivated her suit. The other four followed her example, and all turned to look at her. Bernard is the first to approach her.  
"Lea... after everything my parents and grandparents told me... it's a real honor to finally meet you." he said, "To see you do wha..."  
Lea raised her hand, which Bernard took as his queue to stop talking.  
"As I have already said earlier, you have done more than enough for us." she told him, "Why do you keep acting so formal?"  
"Eh... It's just that I was told that if I don't treat you with respect, you would..."  
Before he could finish his sentence, Bernard fell something going through him. Literally. He frowned as he felt it, shortly before Eva started scratching her chest, after which Daguerre cried in pain. Lea, having faster eyes, saw what was going on. She turned her head, and the others followed her lead. Surrounding them were a group of children, each of them holding a rock.  
"Monsters!" one of them shouted, "You killed Master King!"  
Setuh growled: "They always think they're so tough in group."  
Lea snorted: "So what? We're in group ourselves."  
One of the children threw one rock at Lea. But as it was about to hit her, she caught it with her left hand. For a brief moment, the child in question seemed frightened at the spot.  
"Rocks won't do them any good." they all heard someone call out, "Bub. Attack them!"  
From somewhere among the children, a man emerged, who looked to be someone's grandfather, dressed in a business-suit, but had a blank stare on his face. He seemed to be completely fearless as he approached them.  
"Is that a Re-Active?" Eva asked.  
"This will be too easy." Daguerre was raising his hands, but Lea placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him.  
"I have a better idea." she said, as she stared at the Re-Active.  
The one the children called "Bub" kept walking toward the five monsters, but as Lea stared at him, he slowed down., until he came to a full stop.  
"What is she doing?" some of the children were wondering.  
"Go on, Bub!" the candy store child was shouting at him, "What's the matter with you?"  
Almost in response to what he said, the Re-Active turned around, for the first time ever moaning loudly, raising his hands, which somehow made him look bigger than before, and started back toward the children. Ever one of them, including the candy store kid, looked at him with wide eyes and stretched faces, as if the mere sight of him changed from admiration to fright. As soon as Bub reached for one of the kids, he yelled and started running, as did the ones near him.  
"Go on, assist him." Lea suggested to the other four, "We are monsters after all."  
Setuh, in response, mumbled a few mystic words, and so when he approached the children, they witnessed how the mummy aged rapidly, as if he was turning back into the lifeless body that he was before. Several more children ran away at the sight of him. Another group of kids started to shiver, as if winter had arrived a lot earlier than usual. Suddenly, one of them saw something crawl out of his chest. It looked like a hand, that started reaching for his face. All the nearby children who saw this screamed and ran away, while the kid to whom this was happening stood frozen in fright. After the hand came a whole arm, followed by the full body of Bernard. While he himself thought it juvenile, he allowed his face to come closer to the child's face, and said "boo", to which the kid screamed and ran away. Daguerre raised his hands, which before everyone's eyes got hairier by the second, while his nails grew sharper. As he approached, his ear grew pointier, his nose and mouth grew longer, his eyes turned yellow, while his pupils took on a more oval-shape. As he changed, his moaning slowly grew more fierce, like he was already becoming a rapid animal. One of the kids, thinking himself to be braver than the others, decided to toss a stick at Daguerre. The latter caught it with his one paw, and snapped it, showing them that he wasn't amused with the thought, making him look more ferocious, causing the children to run away yelling. Eva approached another group of children, by stomping her every step, and punching her punching her fist into her hand. Combine this with her overall misshapen appearance, and the kids could each imagine what she was planning to do with them, making them run away crying their heads off. Lea approached the final batch of kids. One of them decided to hold her fingers in front of her face, crossed, to their overall shape looked like that of a crucifix. Other kids followed her example. Lea merely sighed at the sight of it. She placed her hand on the crossed fingers, balling it to a fist, instantly crushing the two fingers. The other kids lowered their hands as they witnessed this. Wondering why they haven't left yet, Lea decided there was only one way left to scare them off. She allowed her eyes to take on a red color, while her long black hair started to move about, as though caught in a wind. A wind that seemed to affect only her, but nobody else around her. That same "wind" caused her cape move up, making her look bigger than before. As she could sense their fear reaching their peak, Lea bared her teeth, showing them just how unusually sharp they are. This was the final draw, which sent the kids home crying and screaming.  
With all the children gone, only the five monsters were left, along with one Re-Active.  
"They're not so brave anymore." Daguerre said.  
"I wasn't even going to do anything." Eva laughed.  
"Now, we better do something about that Re-Active." Setuh said.  
"Yes." Lea hissed, "Let's take him in."  
The other four looked at her, all equally confused about why she said that.  
"I have seen the state of our lair." she explained, "It will be best for all of us to take some extra hands."  
"Speaking of which." Bernard started, "Cefabew has cam... I mean, they have their ways of seeing what's happening in the streets, without actually being there. How do we get home without them seeing us?"  
"That shouldn't be a problem." Lea replied.  
She grabbed hold of her cape, spread it out, which somehow created a puff of smoke, which engulfed the six of them.

From the CCTV room, it looked like smoke appeared, blinding their cameras from seeing anything, and as soon as it cleared, there was nobody left in the streets.  
"Where did tey go?" Van Helsen asked.  
Welles tried looking at other screens, searching for answers, but found nothing: "I don't know."  
"Search for tem." Van Helsen ordered him, "Tey must not escape us!"  
"Dr. Van Helsen." Easton spoke up, "What do we do now?"  
"What we wanted to do from the beginning." he replied, "Hunt them down and..."  
"No." Easton interrupted, "I was talking about Master King. Did you see how devastated the kids were? All of his lessons about courage and strength in numbers had already faded as soon as they saw the monsters."  
Van Helsen realized the implications of this: "In one clean swoop, tey already destroyed much of what we hoped to reach."  
"Looks like we should not underestimate them." Welles said.  
Van Helsen tried to stand firm: "We must not be downed by this. Let us do whatever we have to, to find and stop them."


	10. Chapter 10

The monsters returned to their mansion. Before, they were in a hurry to leave, so they had no time to completely take in just how torn down their lair was. Loose floorboards, cobwebs, rotten furniture, collapsed stairs, as well as ceilings, and the smell of death, which will be the hardest to get rid of. Lea looked at the Re-Active she took along, and her stare was enough to command him to start picking up the leaves that had blown inside of the house.  
"You were right to think we can use all the help we can find." Daguerre stated, "Though I don't think seven of us will be enough."  
"That's not the half of it." Bernard stated, "I still need to bring you people up to speed on the times."  
All four of them looked at him when he said "up to speed".  
"That's what I'm talking about." he elaborated, "You won't understand everything I say, not everyone will understand you, and even earlier, I had to stop myself from saying camera, because I didn't think you'd know what I meant by that."  
"What are you talking about?" Eva asked, "Cameras existed a hundred years ago."  
"But not like they do now." Bernard replied.  
"Times have indeed changed." Lea agreed, "It will take some time for us to adapt just to that."  
"I'm sure Bernard and Ivan will help us with that." Eva said.  
"Speaking of Ivan, where is that little man?" Setuh wondered.  
"I'm here." a voice sounded from another room.  
The five of them ran into the direction that the voice came from.

They entered a room, which looked like a library. Looked like one, because there were only bookshelves, but no books. At the other end of the room there was an open door, and on its threshold was Ivan.  
"What are you doing?" Lea asked him.  
"I was..." he had problems answering, as he breathed heavily. What had he done that exhausted him so much?  
"I was looking for something to do until you guys returned, and then I found this." he said, as he moved away from the threshold, revealing what looked like another treasure chest. But unlike the earlier one, this one had a padlock.  
"What's in there?" Setuh asked.  
"It's where I decided to keep your personal objects." Bernard explained, "I could have used a safe, but that would draw too much attention. A chest like that is not easy to move."  
"But a lock like that..." Eva started, as she approached the chest, placed her hand on the padlock, and with one strong jerk, she tore the lock off the chest, "... can easily be broken off."  
"Not with any equipment I know of." Bernard bit back.  
Eva grinned, just before opening the chest. Inside, there were four objects. One of them looked like an old book, which had all kinds of weird symbols printed on its cover.  
"The Necrobiblos." Setuh recognized it immediately, "So that's where it was kept."  
It wasn't the only book, but the difference between this one and the Necrobiblos, is that it had the name "Emmet Feuerstein" hand-printed on it.  
"You had to keep my creator's journal?" Eva asked.  
"My grandfather told me you might not like it." Bernard replied, "But he also thought it may be more useful than you'd think."  
The third object was what looked like a picture. But before anyone could take a good look at who was on the picture, Daguerre had already taken it away, and tugged it inside his jacket.  
"What was that?" Setuh asked.  
"Nothing important. Daguerre answered, too quickly.  
Lea was the only one who didn't mind this, as she picked up her own personal object, which was a glass orb.  
"That's a fortune teller's, isn't it?" Daguerre asked her, hoping to divert attention from his personal object.  
"It's a gift from a gypsy that helped me move to the west." Lea explained, "She said it would warn me of any danger. If it wasn't for this orb, Van Helsen's notion of my death might have been a reality."  
"That may prove useful in combating Cefabew." Setuh said.  
"Excuse me, Setuh." Ivan decided to join in on this, "But that book your holding..."  
"The Necrobiblos?"  
"Yes." Ivan confirmed, "What is it?"  
"It means Death Book, doesn't it?" Bernard asked.  
"It does." Setuh answered, "It is an ancient book of incantations. It is key to keeping me alive."  
Ivan smiled widely: "Can I look at i..."  
"Don't even touch it!" he stopped Ivan, "If handled by an ignorant fool, its incantations can turn against you."  
Ivan's mouth formed an "O" and he stepped away.  
"So we can't even use it against Cefabew?" Daguerre asked.  
"Not without paying the consequences, no." Setuh replied.  
"Where would be fun if we let magic take care of everything for us?" Lea stated, while she grinned.  
A grin which seemed to work like magic on the others, as they too seemed to feel somewhat better than before.

**THE END**


End file.
